Golden sprint at mountain bike

Today’s races were fast sprints and the athletes went through four stages of qualifying on the way to the finals. Team BC was pumped and ready for it!

The women went all out in their races and Julia Long (Whistler) pulled off an amazing comeback after bike trouble in an early race. Unfortunately, she had more bad luck in the semi-final and did not finish.  Lucy Schick fought her way to the consolation final where she placed third.

 On the men’s side, Team BC kept their momentum going from Tuesday’s big victory in the relay. Rhys Verner (Squamish) took the gold medal in a tight final with Holden Jones (Squamish) finishing close behind in fourth place.

QUOTE
Rhys Verner (Squamish)
On the feeling of winning the sprint event.  
“Feels amazing, pretty big goal of mine. Definitely pumped to get it.”

On the progression of the races from the time trial to the heats and then to the final
“It kind of got more and more stressful. Time trial was pretty mellow, it’s just you and the first heats were not so bad. In the final I was lined up with five other guys that could win it as well so it was pretty hard and definitely faster. The first few heats you can also take it easy on some of the descents because you only have to be top two, so the person behind me doesn’t really need to pass but in the final you can’t ever really have an opening for someone to pass, you just have to be on it.”

On the unpredictability of the sprint race
“You’ve just got to be ready and really hold your line because it’s cutthroat racing and so tight. So more blurred lines I would say.”

FINAL RESULTS
Men
Gold: Rhys Verner
4th: Holden Jones
Women
9th – Lucy Schick
DNF – Julia Long